Pebble Beach >> RJ Harper, who climbed through the ranks at Pebble Beach from golf marshal to executive vice president of golf and retail operations and earned a reputation as the smiling, friendly face of the course, died Wednesday of pancreatic cancer at 61.

Mr. Harper came from a humble background in Memphis, Tennessee, before receiving a full scholarship to Rhodes College in Memphis and graduating in 1978.

“His dad walked out on the family when he was really young and it was a really working-class family,” said Alan Shipnuck, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated and columnist for Golf Magazine who first met Mr. Harper while working as a cart attendant at Pebble Beach during his senior year at Salinas High School.

Shipnuck said Mr. Harper’s background led to who he would become.

“He definitely had a common touch,” he said. “He had a kinship with all the dreamers who came to Pebble Beach on a once-in-a-lifetime trip or a special milestone birthday. Whatever it was, he didn’t look down on those people whatsoever. He understood what they were feeling because Pebble Beach was a special place to him because he had shown up with nothing and he got his start as a $5-an-hour marshal.”

He rose through the ranks during his 32-year career at Pebble Beach Co., becoming the head professional, serving as championship director at the 2000 U.S. Open and general chairman of the 2010 and 2019 U.S. Opens at Pebble Beach before earning his executive position.

“All of us at Pebble Beach Co. and throughout the golf world are heartbroken by the news of RJ’s passing,” said Pebble Beach Co. CEO Bill Perocchi, who worked with RJ for 18 years, in a prepared statement. “RJ had a lasting impact on Pebble Beach, and his smile, vibrant personality and positive attitude and outlook on life will be missed by all and never forgotten. He was a kind, caring person; a consensus builder and true team player; and a dear friend to me personally and to countless employees, guests and people in the golf industry.”

Steve John, CEO of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am tournament director, said he worked very closely with Mr. Harper for the six years he’s been involved with the tournament and met Mr. Harper about 20 years ago.

“It’s a huge void for not just the community but the world,” John said. “He touched so many lives. He was an honest, genuine guy and a friend to all.”

Shipnuck said Mr. Harper treated people equally, whether it was that golfer on a once-in-a-lifetime trip, PGA Tour legends or celebrities in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He called Mr. Harper a down-home Southern boy who could relate with busboys and CEOs alike.

“That was RJ’s gift: he made everybody feel special,” Shipnuck said. “He was one of the most well-connected human beings on the planet. That’s no joke, I’ve seen his phone and every hall of famer from every sport, every movie star, every singer, if they love golf, they were in RJ’s phone and he had a personal relationship with them.”

By multiple accounts, Mr. Harper was a talented singer. He joined country singer Clay Walker on stage and sang songs after the two become friends. Mr. Harper put on an annual charity fundraiser with Walker, a regular at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

As Pebble Beach changed over the years under different owners, Mr. Harper was a constant. Shipnuck said the void he left will never be filled.

“He was the bridge between the old Pebble when it was poorly run and had kind of this absentee ownership to the current administration. He bridged that gap. … Pebble Beach Co. has gotten more and more corporate and more and more buttoned down as an organization and RJ never lost that common touch. So his importance actually grew under the new management.”

Arnold Palmer was a part of the investment group that bought Pebble Beach Co. in 1999 and Mr. Harper worked closely with the legendary golfer.

“Being able to work alongside Arnold Palmer for the past 17 years, on the world’s most amazing golf course, has been one of the greatest privileges of my life,” Mr. Harper said when Palmer died last year.

Mr. Harper also befriended Jack Nicklaus during his time with Pebble Beach.

“RJ Harper has been a friend to Barbara and me, a friend to the game of golf, and a friend to Pebble Beach for many years,” Nicklaus said in a statement. “He has been an institution on the Monterey Peninsula. We all knew that he wasn’t well, but with a spirit typical of RJ, he fought long and hard in a very difficult battle with pancreatic cancer. Last time I saw him was in June at The Calling, Jim Nantz’s event at Pebble Beach, and RJ was doing well. While he knew that his time was limited, you would never know it by being with him. As always, RJ had a smile on his face the entire time. RJ was a great guy and we are going to miss him. It will be hard for all of his friends to walk into Pebble Beach and not see his smiling, friendly face. Barbara and I send our love and prayers to his family during this difficult time. We all lost a great friend.”

A wealth of institutional knowledge of Pebble Beach and the sport, Mr. Harper dedicated himself to any project in which he took part. John said Mr. Harper was integral in getting the AT&T Pebble Beach Junior Golf Association up and running.

“That’s the way he was with everything,” he said. “Everything he was involved with, he had a very genuine approach to it. He wasn’t doing it for any other reason than it’s the right thing to do when so often people get involved just to get involved. That’s not in his DNA.”

Mr. Harper helped many high school and college golf coaches throughout the country and coached women’s basketball at Monterey Peninsula College and football at Stevenson School.

A celebration of life will be held 9 a.m. Nov. 21 on the 18th lawn of Pebble Beach Golf Links. His family requests that donations be made to either the RJ Harper Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund at Stanford University Hospital or to a charity of one’s choice that focuses on assisting underprivileged children, in lieu of flowers.

Mr. Harper is survived by his two sons, Tucker and JT Harper; his two grandsons, Caden and Hudson Harper; his former wife and close friend, Kelly (Yost) Harper; and his sister, Cathy Carr.